Device for producing a sound track



Nov. '12, 1940. J. H. SAUERESSIG 2,221,007

DEVICE FOR PRODUCING A scum) TRACK I Filed may 17, 1939 FIG: 3a

fiu l HINVENTOR n Heinrich SAUERESSIG ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 12, 1940 i'rosTArE e azzroor I DEVICE FOR PRODUCING 'A scum) TRACK Johann Heinrich Saueressig, Enschede, Netherlands, assignor to V. G. Manufacturing Company Ltd, London, England, a British company Application May 17,1939, Serial No..274,183 e In the Netherlands May 21, 1938 10 Claims." (01274-13) This invention relates to a device for producing a sound track in plane or cylindrical blanks, and more particularly to a device for cutting gramophone records.

The object of the invention is to provide tracking means for the cutting head which is considerably cheaper and more efficient than those at present in use and with this object in view tracking of the head is effected by means of an endless flexible traversing element.

ment is obtained at small cost, which is of considerable importance in theproduction of gram-1- l5 ophone record discs of large diameter. Preferably, the conveying element comprises a steel band which is guided over smooth-faced pulleys made, for example, of steel and thedrive is preferably efiected by means of a. simple. or

multiple worm gear, which is of particular advantage to the uniformity of movement.

The conveying element according to the invention may be arranged to control only] the conveying movement of the cutting head, or it may b so designed that it serves simultaneously the purpose of preventing undesirable movement of the cutting head perpendicular or parallel to the surface to be cut. tion of the cutting head and stylus with respect to the surface to be cut may thus be effected either by means ofs'eparate auxiliary elements,

for example, a separate guide for the cutting.

head or by means of the flexible conveying element. The latter design has the advantage of simplifying the construction, and in order. to

adapt the invention for operation in this manher the flexible conveying element itself or a part attached thereto, according to the, invenconveying element, said bar being provided with,

means for guidingthe conveying element. The use of a bar ofthis kind in combination with the endless conveyer band results inan import- 50 ant advantage, namely, that the band may be used for keeping dust and other impurities away. This is not possible: where tracking is effected by means of afscrew from the guiding means.

spindle. 65 The invention also contemplatesv theprovi Thus the screw spindle usually employed for tracking the cutting head is unnecessary and uniform move- This control of the poslsion of a stationary bar arranged between the two parallel sides, upper side and lower side, of the endless band and provided on both sides with guiding means. i

The invention will now be described with ref- 5 erence to a constructional form illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, and intended for the cutting of gramophone record discs. In said drawing:

F ure 1 illustrates a vertical section of a do 10 vice according to the invention.

Figure 2 illustrates the same device partly in plan view and partly in horizontal section.

Figures 3 and 3a aredetail views, the former being a vertical section on the line III-III in 15 Figure 2. Figure 4. is a vertical section on the line IVIV in Figure 2.

Figure '5 is a diagrammatic view showing a particular use of the invention. 20

In Figures 1-4 the endless, flexible conveying element consists of an endless band l passing around two pulleys 2 and 3. Pulley 2' is driven by means of a double Worm gear 30, 3| arranged f be held under tension about the pulleys 2 and 3 30 by. mounting the spindle 33 of the pulley 3 in a U-shaped slide pieceli within a standard 1 Which, the same as standard 4 supporting the pulley 2, is secured to a baseplate 8. The posi-j tion of the slide piece -6 and consequently the 35 tension on the band I is controlled by'a tensions ing device 2| supported in the standard I and connected to the slide piece. As shown in Figure 2 both the slide piece 6 and the upper adjacent part of the housing are of ll-shaped cross-section.

The endless band conveys the sound box for recording sound or the cutting head across the blank when the cutting head is operated to cut a track in a disc-shaped blank 9, supported on a 5 rotatable record carrier or turntable ill; In the constructional form illustratedin the drawing, the band I not only guides the cutting head but i also serves to determine the position of the head with respect to the blank 9. However, as already mentioned above this double function of the band is not obligatory.

Figure 3 illustrates the manner in which the cutting head. is guided and its position with respect to the blank B isifixed, the cutting head being in this figure designated by the numeral I I. Between the two parallel portions of the band 7 I there is arranged a sta ionary guide bar I2,

which is provided in each of its upper and lower surfaces with a longitudinally extending trapezoidal recess It. A block I5, which is secured to r the band I at a particular point and has the same trapezoidal cross section as the recess I4, is adapted to slide in said recess. At the same position on the band I but projecting from the opposit face thereof is a support IS, the arrangement being such that. the band lies between the block and the upperend of the sup- .port and slide block thus forming the sound box carriage. This carriage carries a double armed lever I7 pivotally connected to the lower end of support It. One arm carries the cutting head Hand the other arm a counterweight I8.

Th trapezoidal cross section of the recess I i and of the block is of course not essential, and

-th'e same effect can be obtained by means of a [cooperating groove and block of other cross sections enlarging from the mouth of the groove.

The arrangement as described has the further advantage that the band I is arranged to cover and thus protect the recess I4 and the block ,moving therein from being soiled by dust or other extraneous -matterand thus increases the reliability of the action and the uniformity of movement of the traversing element. For further protection against dust, as may be seen in Figures 3 and 3a, strips I3 are provided at the edges of the. upper and lower faces of guide bar I2, the inner flanges or edges 38 'of said strips being spaced apart from the guide bar and the gaps formed therebybeing closed by means of linings I3 of plush, velvet or equivalent material.

The device functions in the following manner: I

When the band I is moved by rotation of the pulley"? it carries along with it the sound box carriage, block I5 and support It, as well as the sound box or cutting head II for recording sound supported by the sound box carriage. The

. cross sectional form of the recess Id and the block 'or from right to left according to the direction of movement of the band, the cutting head is moved correspondingly, passing over the blank and cutting the sound track therein.

Owing to the uniform movement obtained with the aid of the conveying mechanism described,

sound track grooves can be cut in the blank with very narrow shoulders or bands between them.

It has been foundin practice that seven grooves and upwards per millimetre can easily be produced. The uniformity of the movement is assisted by the use of the worm gear within the standard I as well as. by the means above described for guiding the band.

By operation of the tensioning device 2i the.

tension. on the band I can be removed and movement of the band arrested. when the cutting head has completed the cutting of the sound track. Furthermore, the cutting head may then be returned by hand to its original or to any other desired position.

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1, the cutting head II and the rod I'I being shown on the right hand side of the figure. As will be seen the cutting head II is guided exactly radially over the blank 9.

The stationary guide bar I2 is arranged between the two parallel portions of the band I, and, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, attached at one end to standard 4 and at the other end to standard 1 by means of bifurcated end pieces 34, 35 and 36, 81, respectively.

Support I6 may either, as shown in Figure 3, be attached to the lower side of the band I, or as illustrated in Figure 4, to a loop l9 embracing guide bar I2 and secured to the upper side of.

said band I above guide bar it. Otherwise the arrangement is the same as in Figure 3.

The possibility of deriving a movement both from the lower as well as from the upper side of the band I affords the following advantage in the device according to the invention. It will be seen from Figure 2 that the lower side, for example, of the band I may move a sound box I I for cutting a sound track into the blank whilst the upper side of the band I moves a soundbox 20 for reproducing sound from the track. Said soundbox 2E! in this case moves in a direction opposite to the direction of the cutting head II,

and the result is that by this means the record can be reproduced almost immediately after the sound track has been out. When the soundbox II for recording sound and the soundbox 23 for reproducing sound are arranged upon the band I in an appropriate manner with respect to each other, i. e. oppositely and symmetrically to each other and the axis of the turntable, it is always ensured that they run in the same soundtrack and that guiding or tracking of the soundbox need not be effected by means of the record. In this manner wear of the groove is avoided as much as possible during reproduction which latter is mostly carried out for the purpose of checking the record. At the same time the soundbox for recording sound and the soundbox for reproducing sound will be returned to corresponding new positions simultaneously when the cutting head is displaced after the tension on the band has been released to stop its movement.

When the device according to the invention is constructed, as shown in Figure 2, with both a cutting head or a soundbox II for recording sound and a soundbox 28 for reproducing sound, the guide bar I2 is provided both above and below with a recess I I and, if desired. with strips I3; this is the assumption upon which Figures 1 to 4 are based. This construction is, however, not absolutely necessary. With the arrangement as illustrated in Figure 3 the upper recess It and the upper strips I3 may be omitted, and for the purposes of attachment according to Figure l the reverse holds good. Nor is it absolutely necessary that the guide bar if. be located between the two runs of the band I. It may in fact be located above the upper run or below the lower run thereof. Finally, it is not essential that the band shall run over only two pulleys.

Figure 5 illustrates diagrammatically another arrangement for cutting sound records utilizing the flexible endless traversing band. The band in this case may be of such length that it ex-' tends over a plurality of turntables, for instance H0 and 2H], or otherwise shaped supports or carriers on which the blanks to be out are sup- 2,221,007 I I I 3 ported. In this case a plurality of sound boxes Ill and 2H for recording sound or cutting the sound tracks and, if desired, of soundboxes I20 and 220 for reproducing sound, can then be arranged upon the band so as to aiford the possibility of recording on and/or reproducing from a plurality of records Without interruption. This possibility is of importance for the recording of lengthy musical recitals, lectures etc. as well as for the simultaneous production of several records, or for the reproduction of a record simultaneously With the recording of one or more other records.

What I claim is: I

1. In a sound recording or reproducing device, the combination With a base, a rotatable record carrier, spaced standards secured to said base, an endless-flexible conveyer band, said standards having means for rotatably mounting said conveyer band thereabout and for extending said conveyer hand between said standards, of a sound box carriage permanently secured to said conveyer band, a guide bar supported by said standards, said guide bar provided at its side facing the conveyer band with a groove of a cross section enlarged from the mouth of said groove, a slide block of a cross section shaped in accordance with said guide groove associated with said sound box carriage and permanently secured to said conveyer band. I

2. In a sound recording or reproducing device, the combination with a base, a rotatable record carrier, spaced standardssecured to said base, an endless flexible conveyer band, said standards having means for rotatably mounting said conveyer band thereabout and for extending said conveyer band between said standards, of a sound box carriage permanently secured to said conveyer band, of a stationary guide bar ar ranged within the loop of said endless conveyer band and provided at either of its sides facing said conveyer band with a guide groove for at least one slide block received in either of said guide grooves and permanently secured to said endless conveyer band.

3. In a sound recording or reproducing device, the combination of a base, a rotatable record carrier, spaced standards secured to said about said pulleys and bridging said rotatable record carrier, a stationary'guide bar extended between said standards, means for operatively connecting said guide bar and said conveyer band, a drive for said conveyer band, and a sound box carriage secured to said conveyer band. I

I 4. In a device as set forth in claim 3, the upper side of said conveyer band and the lower side of said conveyer band both provided with a sound box carriage each and secured thereto, said upper band side carriage and said lower band side carriage oppositely arranged with regard to each other and symmetrically to the axis of said rotatable record carrier.

5; In a device as set forth in claim 3, said guide bar arranged within and along the loop of said endless conveyer band and secured to said standards.

6. In a device as set forth in claim 3, the upper side of said conveyer band and the lower side of said conveyer band both provided with a sound bo-x carriage each, said carriages oppositely arranged with regard to each other and symmetrically to the axis of said rotatable record carrier, the one of, said sound box carriages adapted to carry a sound box for recording sound upon, the other for reproducing sound from, one and the same sound record simultaneously.

7. In a device as set forth in claim 3, said combination including two sound boxes, said conveyer band adapted to convey by means of its upper side and by means of its lower side one of said two sound boxes each, symmetrically and oppositely with regard to each other on opposite halves of a sound record base respectively, one of said sound boxes for recording sound upon, the other for reproducing sound from a sound record. I

8. In a device as set forth in claim 3, said combination including a plurality of sound record carriers, said conveyer band allotted to said plurality of sound record carriers in common and extended thereacross, a plurality of sound boxes associated with said conveyer band adapted to record sound upon, and reproduce sound from a plurality of sound records, simultaneously.

9. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said endless flexible conveyer band is arranged to cover said guide groove by means of its side facing said guide bar.

10. A device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said endless flexible conveyer band is arranged to cover said guide groove on either side of said uide bar. l

JOHANN HEINRICH SAUERESSIG. 

